


Haven Doesn't Need Saving Any More

by CookieDoughMe



Category: Haven (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, Post-Canon, Post-Series, Post-Troubles (Haven), This picks up right where canon left off
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-03
Updated: 2019-11-03
Packaged: 2021-01-21 12:36:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21299579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CookieDoughMe/pseuds/CookieDoughMe
Summary: This was inspired bythis conversation on tumblrwithParker_Haven_Wuornos, about if and when Nathan would tell Paige about Audrey. I like to think he wouldn't keep her in the dark for long.
Relationships: Paige/Nathan Wuornos
Comments: 6
Kudos: 21





	1. Chapter 1

Nathan drove Paige and James (_James!_) to the diner in a daze. Paige looked out of the window and exclaimed over the view - she'd never spent much time on the coast, she said. Nathan told her a little about Haven and the diner and asked what kind of pancakes she wanted. James gurgled happily in the back seat as they talked.

When they got to the diner, Kate greeted him from behind the counter, "Hi Nathan, you want your usual?" Then she saw that he had company, and her eyes went wide. "Oh my god, Audrey?! You're …" But her sentence fell flat as she looked to Nathan in amazement and saw the slow but sure shake of his head.

"I'll have the usual Kate, but make it two," he asked. "And two black coffees please."

"Sure thing Nathan," she replied, dragging her eyes away from Paige. "Take a seat."

Paige looked equal parts confused and amused as they sat down and she got James settled, but before she could ask anything, Nathan spoke, "I should tell you. There was a woman here, Audrey Parker …" If someone who knew him well had been paying close attention, they might have noticed his voice crack then, just a little bit. He paused for a moment before continuing, "... she helped a lot of people in this town and she …. well she looked just like you," he finished, a touch of awe creeping into his voice then.

"Really?" asked Paige doubtfully.

Nathan nodded, and after a moment pulled out his phone and showed her the wallpaper photo - Audrey smiling into the camera, the sea breeze whipping her long blonde hair around her face.

Paige took it from him and stared at it. "Wow. We could be twins!" she laughed.

Nathan nodded as she handed the phone back to him and looked at the picture himself for a moment before putting it away.

"What happened to her?" Paige asked, a little warily.

"She, um …" Nathan looked down at his hands. "She died."

Paige deflated, just a little, leaning back in her seat as though receiving some terrible news that she had already known must be true. "You were close," she realised, sitting forward again as she came back into the present moment.

It wasn't even a question really, but Nathan nodded again. "We were."

"I'm sorry," she offered, and rested her palm on his arm, leaving it there for just a moment longer than he expected her to. "What was she like?"

"She was …" Nathan took a breath. He had talked about what had happened; him and Dwight would meet for a beer and talk and talk some nights. But he had never had to describe Audrey to anyone before. Even as he tried to form the sentence, it seemed clear to him that doing so might help him process everything that had happened. But how could he describe Audrey Parker in a few words? "... Determined," he began. "Smart. Funny. Tough. She … helped me before I even knew how broken I was. She saved this town."

"Wow," said Paige after a moment, sounding unaccountably sad. "That's a lot to live up to."

"No!" said Nathan earnestly, reaching forward to rest his hand on her arm now. "You're not … You don't need to …" He took a breath, started again. "She's gone, I know that. You are your own person. And … Haven doesn't need saving any more."

The food arrived then, and they smiled at each other over two matching piles of pancakes.


	2. Chapter 2

Paige adjusted her hat in the restroom mirror and tried to imagine herself with blonde hair. Even though she had basically seen a photo of that very thing just 30 minutes ago, she still found she couldn't do it, no matter how long she stared at the mirror. She shrugged at her reflection; today was turning out to be a pretty strange day, but she found that she was kind of OK with it.

She should get back to James though. He was usually pretty calm and good with strangers, but she liked this Nathan in a way she couldn't explain, and she didn't want to risk annoying him within two hours of their meeting by leaving him alone with a crying baby.

As she pushed open the door back into the diner though, she felt like her heart grew two sizes bigger in her chest. She saw the redness around her son's eyes that told her he had been crying, but she also saw that he was now laughing in delight as Nathan bounced him in his arms and made faces at him.

As she walked up to them Nathan asked her, "Hope you don't mind? He was getting restless."

Paige shook her head with a smile, unsure for a moment how to find the words to respond to that. She stepped closer to smooth the hair on her baby's head. "He likes you," she replied simply, realising as she said it how natural it would feel to rest her hand on Nathan as well, and how the three of them together felt so very much like _home_.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! If you're glad you did, then any form of positive comment is always much appreciated. Or come chat on tumblr!


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